{"id":310210,"date":"2017-04-12T14:53:14","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T14:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=310210"},"modified":"2017-04-12T14:53:14","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T14:53:14","slug":"huawei-chief-dismisses-usefulness-of-smartwatches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/04\/huawei-chief-dismisses-usefulness-of-smartwatches\/","title":{"rendered":"Huawei chief dismisses usefulness of smartwatches"},"content":{"rendered":"
Eric Xu, chief executive of Chinese tech firm Huawei has said he doesn’t see the point in smartwatches.<\/p>\n
This is despite the fact the company launched a device during the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
He was responding to a question during the firm’s analyst summit in Shenzhen, at which he was asked if smartphones are dying because of wearable tech.<\/p>\n
Mr Xu said: “I’ve never figured out why we need to wear smartwatches when everything we need is on our phones.”<\/p>\n
Mr Xu, who is one of three rotating CEOs at Huawei, each serving six months at a time, is also reported by Forbes to have said: “I’m not a man who wears watches, and I’ve never been optimistic about this market.”<\/p>\n
His comments have not come as a surprise to some in the industry.<\/p>\n
“Smartwatches are a solution looking for a problem, rather than being a game-changer,” Ben Wood, an analyst at tech consultancy CCS Insight told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Mr Wood also praised Mr Xu’s honesty, saying: “It’s one view of just one of the three chief executives at Huawei.”<\/p>\n
The smartwatch sector has been dominated by tech firms such as Apple and Samsung.<\/p>\n
However, fashion and luxury watch manufacturers also announced their interest in the devices at the recent Baselworld trade show.<\/p>\n
Brands such as Guess, Montblanc and Movodo, all revealed plans for new Android Wear smartwatches during the event.<\/p>\n
They join TAG Heuer and Fossil, which operates a portfolio of watch brands including Michael Kors, Skagen and Armani Exchange.<\/p>\n
Mr Wood said there has been a lot of progress since the early offerings created by “middle aged engineers” in what he described as a “sea of sameness.”<\/p>\n
He added: “2017 is a pivotal year for smartwatches with lots of new launches at the end of this year. That doesn’t guarantee success, but with a lot of them, we’ll see if people want them.”<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eric Xu, chief executive of Chinese tech firm Huawei has said he doesn’t see the point in smartwatches. This is despite the fact the company launched a device during the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. He was responding to a question during the firm’s analyst summit in Shenzhen, at which he was asked if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":310211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[1819,6122],"yoast_head":"\n